Often owners contact the veterinary clinic, complaining that the hind legs are being taken away from the dog. Each of them describes the symptoms in their own way: the pet is limping, hunching his back, dragging his paws, he has paralysis.
Introduction
There is no single reason that can cause such symptoms. Dog veterinary medicine indicates that the first step in treatment should be a qualified diagnosis. To know how to treat, you need to know what to treat. And without going to the veterinarian you can’t do anything here.
Separate pathologies, when the hind legs are taken away from the dog, include age and breed predisposition. So, pugs, poodles, English and French bulldogs, dachshunds and Pekingese have a predisposition to the destruction or displacement of intervertebral discs (disc herniation).
Discopathy
This pathology is quite serious and can pose a threat to the life of a pet. Moving, the disk squeezes the spinal cord. Outwardly, this will be manifested by periodic bouts of severe pain: the pet freezes in one position (usually with a hunched back and outstretched neck), shortness of breath, severe trembling, hind legs weaken and buckle.
The reasons why dachshunds have a decrease in the strength of the intervertebral disc, scientists have not yet fully identified. A genetic predisposition has been established in some dog breeding lines. Due to the mutual pressure of the vertebrae on each other, the gelatinous pulpous nucleus moves into the thickness of the fibrous ring and subsequently leaves its limits, falling into the paravertebral space. The smallest strength of the fibrous ring is from the side of the passing spinal canal, and therefore parts of the destroyed disk usually shift in this direction. This causes compression of the spinal cord lying here, as well as its nerves.
If the compression of the spinal cord is not so pronounced, then clinically it will manifest itself only like this - the hind legs of the dog refused. The pet drags them, trying to transfer the weight of the body to the forelimbs. Trying to jump onto a chair (sofa, chair), but he doesn’t succeed. Can not bend to the floor, bowl. If there is a suspicion of discopathy, you need to go for a qualified diagnosis and prepare for treatment, up to surgery. Squeezing the spinal cord can cause irreversible changes in the body, when therapeutic measures are simply ineffective.
Dysplasia
Pets of giant and large breeds (Labrador, Newfoundland, Rottweiler, Great Dane, St. Bernard, German Shepherd dogs 4-12 months old) also have their predispositions to the disease, when the dog's hind legs failed. This is a lesion of the
hip joints (dysplasia). Many things can affect the occurrence of this pathology: heredity,
slippery sex, overweight puppy, unbalanced diet, etc.
Causes of dysplasia
Concerning the causality of this disease, many scientific disputes have been held. And while two theories have been formed about the heredity of this pathology and the mechanism of inheritance.
Many geneticists advocate the theory of additive inheritance. That is, the disease develops due to the action of genes that are involved in the final formation of the hip joint.
The second theory is based on the premise that these same genes influence each other, and their interaction is combined in different ways. This means that vice has a much more complex hereditary character than is shown by the first theory.
There is a third theory in the world of geneticists. She combines the first two. According to it, the action of the genes responsible for the creation of joints can be summed up, and individual genetic pairs affect each other in different ways.
The general conclusion of specialists: a disease is a classic example of a quantitative trait, which is influenced by many genes (polygeny), and in this case, many environmental factors affect their final formation and manifestation of symptoms. The clinical manifestation of dysplasia, when the hind legs are taken away from the dog, is not in all animals. But this does not mean that the pet at risk is not susceptible to this pathology, if there are no pronounced symptoms. When choosing a partner for mating, you should study the pedigree for the presence of ancestors with dysplasia. It should be borne in mind that the disease can be transmitted to descendants through fourteen generations.
Swedish dog veterinary medicine has unequivocally proved that dysplasia is associated with heredity and is inherent in certain breeds. And if the breed is characterized by a powerful physique and a large mass, then the likelihood of a disease is very high. The dog's hip joint carries a huge load. It gives the torso pushing movement from the hind limbs when moving. And during this jerk, the joint extends and runs the thigh head along the entire acetabulum. Particularly great friction occurs in the joint when the animal, standing on its hind legs, jumps or walks.
If the hip joints are affected, then the weakness of the hind legs will appear immediately after a period of rest (with morning rise) and decrease with physical exertion. Also, this lesion is symmetrical rarely, the dog will begin to “fall” on only one paw.
Myositis
In middle-aged dogs, after too much physical exertion, muscle inflammation, myositis, may develop the next day. Due to overstrain, tearing, rupture, disengagement of muscle fibers and hemorrhage in the thickness of the muscles can occur. Because of the damage, traumatic edema develops, and with a significant rupture of muscle fibers, a scar forms and the muscle shortens. This leads to myogenic contracture of the corresponding joint. If pathogenic microflora gets into the affected muscle, purulent myositis will develop.
One of the symptoms of this disease will be a “stilt gait” or weakness of the hind limbs; the dog is limping on its hind leg. Treatment of dogs with such an ailment will not cause great difficulties, but only a veterinarian can distinguish myositis from other diseases .
Osteochondrosis
Another disease due to which the pet may have problems with the hind legs. The main reason is a violation of cartilage mineralization. Characteristic for puppies of large breeds. Osteochondrosis is a multifactorial disease. Key roles are played by nutrition and genetics. Cartilage stratification with such a pathology is more often observed in joints subject to the greatest load (hip). The result will be the appearance of lameness, the dog is limping on its hind leg.
Fractures
This pathology is often found among puppies of large breeds. And many owners consider the cause of injury. The dog is tightening its hind paw; it cannot lean on it. Painfully reacts to touch. In most cases, a fracture occurs with minimal exposure. This type of injury is called a pathological fracture and indicates a low mineralization of the skeleton. The reasons are low intake of calcium or vitamin D, high intake of phosphorus.
To recover in this case, it is not enough to fix the fracture. The main thing is to prescribe the right diet. The best option is to use ready-made feeds balanced in terms of phosphorus, calcium, vitamins D and A. An excess of these substances will delay bone healing.
Old age
An elderly dog falls on its hind legs? This may be due to a malfunction of the brain. According to the observations of veterinarians, this is most often due to various vascular problems, less often - the reason for the presence of brain tumors. Proper treatment in this case can significantly improve the well-being of the pet and prolong its life for years.
What should be distinguished from
Kidney problems cannot be the reason why the hind legs are taken away from the dog and the body becomes stooped if the pet does not have an extreme degree of exhaustion with auto-toxicity. But in this case, weakness will spread to the entire muscle apparatus.
What not to do
The most common mistake by owners in identifying hind limb weakness is self-treatment of dogs with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac, indomethacin, aspirin, etc.). The clinical improvements observed by the owners after the use of these drugs are only temporary, but they hide the underlying disease well, which makes it difficult to correctly diagnose the disease, which causes the hind legs to be taken away from the dog. Also, medical anti-inflammatory drugs have a number of serious side effects for pets, including ulcers on the walls of the stomach and bleeding in it.